Page 2 of Wicked Love

I take a deep breath, about to use most of my words for the day. I’m the quiet one in our friend group and everywhere else, but there’s very little quiet time when Becca and I are together. She likes to discuss all the things.

“Okay, here’s the rundown,” I begin, same as I always do. “As you know…” I glance back at her and she’s looking at me with her bright eyes. She has the sweetest smile. “I’m a linebacker for the Colorado Mustangs, and Weston Shaw is our quarterback.”

“I love Weston, and Sadie is thebest,” she says.

“Yes, they’re great. Weston and Sadie are getting married in a couple of weeks, and Caleb is two years old and adorable.”

“Yes, he is,” she says emphatically.

“Our tight end, Rhodes Archer, just got married a couple of days ago and is on his honeymoon right now.”

“Oh, I love Rhodes! And Elle is thebest.”

I chuckle. “I think you could tell our story better than I could. His son Levi is four and also one of the cutest kids I’ve ever seen.”

“Levi is cute,” she agrees. “He has curly hair. He opens doors for me.”

“Levi’s a little gentleman, isn’t he? And even Henley Ward, our wide receiver—well,formerwide receiver now, after a serious ACL injury—is engaged now.”

“I sad Henley’s hurt,” she says. “I love him and Tru is thebest.”

I laugh again. She thinks all the women are the best. She’s not wrong; they are incredible people.

“Henley and his ex-wife Bree have three daughters, Cassidy, Audrey, and Gracie, that we love dearly.”

“So dearly,” she adds.

If I don’t say that every time, she’s sure to add it.

“They’re fourteen, ten, and seven,” I say.

“I nine soon,” she says.

The girls dote on Becca, and Caleb and Levi adore her too. She’s treated like a princess every time she enters the room and I fucking love it.

“That’s right. All of you are growing up too fast.”

“And you bonded…” she starts then pauses for me to continue.

“The guys and I originally bonded over football and the fact that we were all dads raising our kids by ourselves, but we can’t exactly call ourselves theSingleDad Players anymore now that some of the guys are getting married.”

“Dad, you not married,” she says, her lips puckering out.

“No, I’m not. We meet on the regular to talk about all things kids, life, football…and lately, a helluva lot about the women intheirlives.” I emphasizetheirbecause I need her to understand that there will not be a woman in my life.

Her smile is long gone now, and I focus on the road in front of me to avoid her scowl.

“You need a woman to talk about a helluva lot…on the reg’lar.”

I clear my throat and charge forward, trying both not to laugh and to distract her from the topic of women.

“We have a book that we write in all the time, The Single Dad Playbook, where we exchange advice and stories when we’re not together in person.”

“And Penn too!” she says.

“I haven’t forgotten Penn Hudson, our running back. He isn’t a dad, but even he has developed a fatherly bond with Sam, a kid that he mentors. It started through a tutoring program, but Sam has become like family to all of us by now, right?”

“Right. Sam is eleven and so pretty,” she breathes. “But Penn is the prettiest.”

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